Phonograph tone-regulator.



livere by the sound-conveyor are tion consists in the use EUGENE M. ROBINSON, oEoHIcAGfo,y ILLINOIS.

PHoNoGnAPH ToNE-BEGoLATon..

Speccation of Letters Patent.

Yatented Sept. 18, 1906.

Application tiled December 30, 1905l Serial No. 293,985.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENE M. ROBIN- soN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of llhnois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Phonograph Tone- Regulators.;V which the following 1s a speciiication.

"M invention relates to phonographs, and

partielarlyto means for reducing the volume of vsound-waves passing through the horn of the phonograph whereby a honograph designed for outdoor Work or fdr a large auditorium may be used in a small room without .discomfort to the audience.

My invention is in some respects an improvement upon the device of m prior atent No. 778,271, for phonograp lssue to me December 27, 1904, and as to its principal features is a division of my ap lication for atent on phonograph, Serial o. 251,470,

ed March 22, 1905.

As stated in my prior patent and prior application, a phonograph consisting, .essentially, of means for causing a record to transmit the sounds impressed u on it into vibrations upon a Adisk of` ilexib e material, technically called a reproducer, and a soundconveyer consisting of one or more parts for conducting the sound-waves made by the reproti'ucer away from the reproducer and for anipliiying the same is commercially unsatisfacto for the reason that the sounds detoo loud or largle 1n volume for use in ordinary rooms; and t e object of my invention is to rovide -meansfor reducing the volume of soun -waves passing from the reproducer proper through the sound-conve' er, so that the volume of sound will be re uced Without the purity of tone being injured.

' As showninFigures 11, 12, 13, and 14 of said prior application, Serial No. 251,470, my iny Von consists in the use of a valve in the ysound-conveyor consisting of a sheet or plate of imperforate material so mounted adjacent to an opening in the side of some portion of the sound-conve er that it can be moved to a position in whic it lies crosswise of or obstructs the sound-wave passage of the soundconveyer. In its preferred form 'my mvenof such a plate-valve in combination with a novel form of mechanin details of construction ismfor moving the plate ofthe valve back- I ward and forward between opened and closed position.

More in detail, my invention consists in an article of manufacture comprising a plate with a hole in it, with a valve-plate mounted 1n a recess in said su plemental plate to close said hole, the who e ed that it may be inserted at some convenient point in the sound-conveyer of the phonograph. The word sound conveyer. as here used throughout the s ecication and claims means any part of t e passage-way through which t e sound-waves pass after they leave the reproducer-diaphragm.

Still more'in detail, my invention consists to Ybe hereinafter more fully described and claimed as the speciiication proceeds.

As my prior application and show a completephonograph, here shown such portions as a clear understanding of my invention.

Referring to` the drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a phonograph corresponding, except as to the mechanical means for moving the valve-plate,.to Fig. 11 of my said prior application. Fig. 2 is a sectional lan view through the reproducer and valvelate-operating mechanism, taken on the orizontal central lane of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional en view taken on line3of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a side view of the valve mechanism proper removed from the phonograph. Fig. 5 is a side view of the simplest form of my mechanism, the same being identical with Fig. 12 of my saidv prior application. Fig. 6 is-a horizontal sectional view taken on line 6 of Fig. 5, the same being identical with Fig. 13 of my said prior application. Fig. 7 is a detail view of a modified form of'iny invention in which the valve-plate is pivotally atent both have only mounted.

being so constructare necessary to The numeral 10 indicates the ordinary or i outer portion of a phonograph, commonly called a horn, terminating at the right beyond the figure in a bell (not shown) and at its other end in a head or sound-box composed of two parts 11 and 12, inclosed by a cap 14, corresponding to the cap 32 of my prior atent and the cap 5() of my prior application, the reproducer-disk proper (not shown) being loc-ated within the cap at or ICO I5 -wise backward and forward injthis recess 21 about the flange 15. Insidethe parts just described there is a clear passage-way. 16 leadin from the reproducer-disk proper to` the bel of the horn, this whole passage-way' constituting actually and practically the sound-conveyer.'

In order to restrict the volume of soun d' to Open and close a hole.24 in the disk 20,

lymg in and forming apart of the sound-comveyer passage-Way 16v of thehorn. This clos- This flat diskor ures to a position in-'which t ing may be effected by the end of the valvelate, preferably cut in a curved line, asin '1g'. 4 the plate intermediate of its ends, as'shown' 1n' F1g. 5, or by the side28' of the valve-plate en it is. pivotally-mounted, at one side of the hole 24, as in the modified vform of Fig. 7. late 22 may in its simplest form (shown in igs.5 and 6) be moved by hand, the operator taking hold of the end of the'plate from the' open position of said'fighe solid portion of the plate .closes the hole 24 and bjack to origina position. In orderv to give such plate a more readily adjustable slow movement, I prefer'to provide some form 'of 'slowa motion mechanism, one :form of 'which' is illustrated in Fig'sqlto '4, inclusive', ThisI p ortlons of the plate to t consists in a ro' or shaft 30, suitably jour. naled in' lugsor ilanges 3l'upon the sides of theplate A20, (preferabl made-by bending hedesiredpositiom) there being on the end of the shaft'a milled wheel 32, adapted to .be taken hold of bythe operator to'iotate the shaft.' In themiddle o the shaft is a small pinion 34, meshing with a rack 35 upon the upper face ofthe plate 22,

so that when the thumb-screwv 32 is. rotated the motion is transmitted through the pinion 34'to' the rack 35, with ,the result that the plate 20 is given corresponding slow motion 1n either direction depending upon the direc- 'tion of ro'tation of the wheel v32. Any ofthe ordinary forms of slow-motion device may be used for moving this plate 20 without departin from the s irit of my invention.

n Fig.' 7 I-liave shown an alternative construction in which the valve-plate is ivotally mounted. upon the bearing 37 ,so t at it can by' properly4 moving the handle 38 beJl moved from the position shown in the figure,

in which the hole 24 is artiallyr closed,either' to a position in .which t athole is `completelyr open or to a position nvwhichit is closed; For commercial purposes I prefer to make my valve mechanism consistingof the plate oint between the position, it should of the waves through- .the soun 20,1 thel valve-plate 22,1and 'the-mechanisin'- for operating said valve-plate as a. separate article of manufacture, so that it can be sold t'o dealers o'f different kinds of phonographs and inserted bythem between suitable spliceplates or flanges, of which thev portions 11 and 12v7 here shown, are illustrative Asamples` f in the sound-conveyers of their phonographs;

In order to -secure the device of my invention .inproper osition between'the'parts of any honograp sound-conveyer, I rovide surta le screw-holes 40,'tbroughwh1ch anyA suitable screws'may be inserted .to secure the plate 20 in position betweenl the adjacent arts of the 'phonograph sound-conveyer. hese holes 40 maybe given any convenient location so long as they do not interfere with the operative mechanism 'of the valve.

' 'While I prefer to locate my valve mechanl 85 proximity to the reproducer, it point desired between ism in close may be located at .any the re roducer and t While have referred tothel valve-plateas moving from wide-open to completely-closed be understood that there `1s a more or `lessgradualreduction of the .sound-waves passing through the sound-con- :veyer as this vmotion toward closing takes place. In order that this diminution of sound `may be very adual as the full closed posltion is reachned, I prefer toma e the curvature 26 of the plate lnFigs. 4 and 5 as shown and toput a notch 41 upon the side 1. -In a phonograph' in combination `with a record, -'areproducen in operative' connection therewith 'and asound-conveyerattached to said reproducer, a valve-plate mounted adj'a# cent to said sound-'conveyer in a plane substantially at right angles theretoadapted to be moved into and out ofthe path of.sound' waves within the soundf-conveyer to e plate a pinion meshin' with said rac' and means for rotating sai pinion whereby said plate may be given-a gradual. motion jineither di rection between its'two adjustable.- ositions.

2. A sound-modifier consisting o a supplemental plate ada ted to be secured between two parts 'of a h there being v'a hol) adapted to re passage-way t and a valve.- late mounted in a recess in said supplementa plate 'ada ted to .be moved ster with'gt e soundewave :edgewise -in-the planeo A-the supplemental platebetween'two different positionsto. open and close said hole in the supplemental'plate. 3. A sound-modifier' consisting'of a supple-I mental plate,f.a'dapted to be securedbetween.

two .portionsof a phonograph. sound-con- `plate adapted f e-way for soun'd-y .veyerthere being ahole iii-said to register with the pgssg e bell of the horn.

11'55" onogra'ph soundeconveyerfz einSd su plemental plate ough` the sound-conveyer: no

onveyer and a 13o valve-plate slidably mounted in a recess in said supplemental late adaplted to be moved edgewise in the p ane f t e supplemental plate backward and forward between two different positions to open and close said hole in the supplemental plate.

4. A sound-modifier consisting of la supplemental plate, adapted to be secured between two portions of a phonograph sound-con- -veyer there being a hole in said plate adapted to register with the passa waves through the soun e-way for sound- -conveyer and a valve-.plate slidably mounted in a recess in said supplemental plate ada ted to be moved backward and forward in t e plane of said plate between two different positions to open and close said hole in the sup lemental plate7 and a slow-motion device fp or moving said nesses.

EUGENE M. ROBINSON. Witnesses:

DWIGHT B. CHEEVER, HOWARD 4M. Cox. 

